Very impressed with the service provided by the Albert Grace team. Sophie was brilliant throughout the renting process, and when she was not available someone else from the team would step in and help. I'm really glad that hubby and I found the flat that we wanted managed by a fantastic agency.

Just a few thoughts on Malay and his team. From inception to finish the service was nothing less than professional. Malay has done some considerable renovation on my my rental properties and from the initial specification to the final fitting the process was smooth,measured and transparent. Every last detail was taken care off and great care was taken not to inhibit the tenants so as to avoid problems for me. I will certainly be using Malay for future projects.

Five stars are not enough to describe how excellent Sophie and Malay have been in supporting us in the tenancy process. On top of being very professional, they have also been extremely kind, honest and pleasant people to deal with. All the properties we have viewed with them were stunning! Definitely recommended!

Excellent, friendly and professional service provided over our 3-year tenancy - from our first meeting right the way through to our departure date. Clearly had the tenants interests at heart while maintaining a strong relationship with the landlord Highly recommended estate agent

Great guys at AG, always on hand with any queries I had and very thorough and professional, and anyone would expect them to be, with a Real Estate market guru heralding the business who's hands on approach and focus to deliver is top notch and incomparable.

Never disappoint - always deliver! A great family run company where customer service is right at forefront. I have been using 'Albert Grace Estate Agents' for 16 years. They are good value for money and as a fully managed property service I know my rental property is in good hands. Start to finish, professional, efficient, honest and straight talking.

We have been working along side Albert Grace and have to say that Malay and his colleagues are a great team and a great asset to the company. They are very proactive, honest and reliable. We look forward to many more years of working together. Thank you for all your hard work.

The team at Albert Grace Estate is incredible. From renting my flatour quickly and to the right candidates they are always proactive andprovide good support. Also they have good knowledge about currentlaws, they even help me find cheaper insurance and they have greatnetwork. Highly recommend them anytime.

Before I bought a property for investment, I happened to talk to Albert Grace Estates.They advised me so well that I directly built trust in their capabilities. Their knowledge about the real estate market is solid. They react very fast and found a perfect property to invest in.Albert Grace is now managing my new property and I am very pleased with their service. We rented the property and they fully manage all aspects of rental.

Buy-to-let slump puts first-time buyers in the driver’s seat

Buy-to-let slump puts first-time buyers in the driver’s seat

The withdrawal of landlord buyers has left the market freer for first-time buyers without pushing up prices.

Buy-to-let landlords are finally in retreat in the housing market, leaving young adults in a better position to buy a property, according to the latest data from mortgage lenders.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said lending in March was £21.4bn, down 19% on the year before, almost entirely due to landlords withdrawing from the market. A double whammy of tighter Bank of England lending rules, which have forced banks and building societies to insist on greater rental cover and higher deposits, plus new taxes on rental income, has made buy-to-let far less financially attractive.

Lending peaked in March 2016, as landlords rushed through purchases to avoid a 3% hike in stamp duty. But since then, lending has gone into freefall.

The CML says that if the March trend continues “we can expect to have seen around 70,000 buy-to-let house purchases in the last year. This compares with 142,000 in the 12 months leading up to the stamp duty change. That’s 42% lower year-on-year”.

Nationwide’s buy-to-let subsidiary, TMW, said in February its third quarter 2016-17 lending to landlords had fallen to £0.9bn from £2.2bn in the same period and that “buy-to-let market activity has slowed considerably.”

Estate agents report that the withdrawal of landlord buyers has left the market freer for first-time buyers without pushing up prices. Mark Dyason, director of the UK-wide mortgage broker Edinburgh Mortgage Advice, says: “We are seeing a huge amount of pent-up demand … for so long landlords have held all the cards, but with the various tax changes applied to buy-to-let, first-time buyers are firmly in the driving seat and are putting the pedal to the floor.”

The CML says that on a 12-month rolling basis to March 2017, there were 342,000 first-time buyers, the highest in nine years.

We may be beginning to see the reversal of a long period of expansion of the private rented sector
At campaign group Generation Rent, spokesman Dan Wilson Craw says the figures are a glimmer of hope for renters. “The number of first-time buyers increased by 27,000 in the year to February, compared with the previous year, so the reduced appetite for new property among landlords is clearly helping renters buy a home of their own.

“If house prices level off as a result of the new taxes on speculation, this should enable even more renters to afford to buy.”

But John Goodall, chief executive of buy-to-let specialist Landbay, warns that rents are likely to rise if lending to landlords is cut off. “Most forecasters expect continued high demand for rental properties. Someone is going to have to provide the housing. The government is not in a position to do it, so it needs private-sector money. It’s not a good situation for renters.”

Lenders now reckon that 2015 will go down as the peak year for buy-to-let, with no sign of mortgage approvals returning to former levels for years.

Bernard Clarke of the CML, in an analysis of the future of buy to let, says: “In a relatively short period, we have seen the introduction of a raft of fiscal and regulatory measures that bear down on landlords and buy-to-let lending. The combined effects have resulted in a significant reduction in new property purchases by landlords. Some of the measures have also encouraged landlords to sell existing rental properties.

“It is too early to predict long-term effects of these measures on the balance of tenure. But we may be beginning to see the reversal of a long period of expansion of the private rented sector.”

Over the past two decades, the number of privately rented homes has more than doubled from just over two million to more than 5.3 million, or from 9% to 19% of households.

Clarke adds: “Some are concerned about the expansion of buy-to-let, arguing that it reflects increasing affordability pressures for owner-occupiers.

“But it is also true that the growth of buy-to-let has widened choice for tenants in the private rented sector and delivered higher standards of accommodation.”

Many buy-to-let landlords are scrambling to avoid the impact of tax changes by restructuring their portfolios to escape higher taxes on their rental income. Some have set up limited companies, while others have increased rents or transferred properties to family members.